The present disclosure relates generally to information handling systems, and more particularly to a ball grid array system for connecting information handling system components to an information handling system.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option is an information handling system (IHS). An IHS generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements may vary between different applications, IHSs may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in IHSs allow for IHSs to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, IHSs may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Some IHS components utilize ball grid arrays for coupling to IHSs. Ball grid arrays are a type of surface-mount packaging that may, for example, be used to permanently mount integrated circuits such as processors to a circuit board, and are widely used due to their high connection density and signal integrity performance. However, ball grid arrays may be subject to mechanical stresses that can degrade or even break the soldered connection(s) between the processor and the pads on the circuit board. For example, ball grid arrays may provide solder balls arranged in a square or rectangle, and forces on the processor or other portion of the ball grid array after soldering may result in high stresses on the soldered connections at the corners of the ball grid array that damage or degrade those soldered connections. Conventional solutions to this problem are to provide larger pads for the soldered connections at the corners, and/or provide sacrificial soldered connections at the corners of the ball grid array. However, it is also desirable to use ball grid arrays for board-to-board connections. Such board-to-board connections are typically subject to higher mechanical forces and require relatively larger ball grid arrays. In addition, board-to-board connections can also introduce unevenly distributed weights on the ball grid array (e.g., due to components located on the board) relative to a ball grid array provided for a processor, which can cause problems related to keeping the boards parallel and ensuring that the solder balls do not introduce a short across the pads during soldering (or more accurately, a solder reflow process). The relatively larger ball grid arrays can also cause problems with regard to detecting open or shorted soldered connections using standard optical inspection, and sometimes require X-ray inspection which raises costs.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved ball grid array system.